Phonograph record cleaning member



Nov. 25, 1952 c. w. sToUDT 2,619,354

FHONOGRAPH RECORD CLEANING MEMBER Filed May 20, 1949 L 6l, I M

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES TENT QFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a means attachable to a phonograph needle. adapted to clean records of dust and dirt during the playing thereof.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a device of the type stated which can be made at a complete minimum of expense, and which can be readily attached t-o or detached from a conventional phonograph needle, with speed and ease.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a means of the type stated which while being sufficiently small at one end as to be capable of being securely attached to a phonograph needle which, as is well known, is of very small diameter, is nevertheless widened at the other end so as to traverse or extend across a considerable number of grooves in the record for particularly efficient cleaning thereof.

Another important object is to provide a device of the type stated in which the wide cleaning end is adapted to keep the cleaning member in proper alignment with the needle, despite the narrowness of the needle and the other end of said cleaning member at the point of connection therebetween.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a record cleaning means constructed in accord-ance with the invention as applied to the needle of a conventional tone arm head.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of said means.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the invention is applicable to conventional phonograph tone arm head and needle construction including a tone arm head 5 having mounted therein the cartridge 6 secured in the head by screws 1. Needle 8 extends from the cartridge and is secured against accidental separation therefrom by means of the set screw 9.

d?, phonograph record being played is designate The invention includes a small cleaning member preferably of felt material, attachable to the phonograph needle 8 so as to Wipe over the surface of the record R during the playing of the record. To this end, said cleaning member comprises an elongated body l2 carrying at one end best shown in Fig. 3, and will extend across perhaps 10 or 12 grooves of the record. Thus, as the record R is rotated during the playing thereof, the grooves disposed beneath the widened lower wiping surface of the cleaning member I2 will be engaged thereby to insure the cleaning of the record.

Extending around the lower end of the needle 8 and the upper end of the cleaning member is the annular tape, band, or other securing means Il whereby the upper end of the .cleaning member is connected to the needle 8.

As will be seen, a cleaning member constructed in accordance with the invention can be manufactured at such low cost as to permit it to be a throw-away device, fully expendable and cap-able of being discarded with the needle itself when the needle becomes worn. At the same time, it m-ay be noted that the device at its upper end is so constructed as to be connected to the needle itself without diiiculty, and the lower end of said member being bevelled and widened and disposed transversely of the direction of movement of the record will be flat against the record and serve to hold the cleaning member in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, preventing lateral deviation of said cleaning member despite the narrowness of its connection to the phonograph needle.

What is claimed is:

A record cleaning member for attachment to a phono-graph needle comprising a relatively small subst-antially rectangular elongated body of felt, a relatively narrow tongue integral with and extending longitudinally from one end edge of said body, said tongue being of a width less than the diameter of a phonograph needle and being adapted to lie in longtudinal contact with that portion of such a needle immediately above the point thereof, the end edge of the body remote from the tongue lying oblique to opposite longitudinal sides of the body to form a record contacting surface of relatively large area, and an annular band adapted to encircle said tongue and a phonograph needle, for detachably connecting said body directly to a needle in trailing relation therewith whereby when the-needle contacts a record the oblique edge of the body lies against the record.

CHARLES WILLIAM S'IOUDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,281,135 Claybrook Oct. 8, 1918 1,836,591 Hall Dec. 15, 1931 2,327,094 Catucci Aug. 17, 1943 2,343,837 Wheeler Mar. 7, 1944 2,497,366 Nicole Feb. 14, 1950 

